Chief Executive Officer jobs in United Kingdom

We believe tourism can, and must, play a key role in achieving a sustainable future for our world; so we’re convening the key players, and catalysing the necessary action, to change the impact of travel, for good. We are committed to being a driving force that redefines what it means to travel, helping everyone explore our world in a way that protects both people and places, and secures a positive future for destinations and local communities for generations to come.

Founded by Prince Harry, The Duke of Sussex, we are a pre-competitive coalition of some of the biggest names in travel and technology including Amadeus, BCD, Booking.com, Expedia, Google, Mastercard, PitchUp, Sabre, Skyscanner, The Travel Corporation, Trip.com Group, Tripadvisor, and Visa. We now partner with fifteen of the world’s leading companies and brands associated with travel representing a combined market value of almost $3tn, working together to make travel more sustainable.

Travalyst provides supportive, independent and neutral governance, empowering our Coalition of some of the biggest – and occasionally competing – travel companies and service providers to share data and accelerate change. The goal is to bring credible, consistent sustainability information to the mainstream, helping both travellers and travel companies make better, greener choices.

The CEO of Travalyst leads a first-of-its-kind global initiative to accelerate sustainable tourism and combat climate change, by harnessing the power of communities and the private sector, and innovation to change the impact of travel for good. This is a high profile, strategic and operational leadership role overseeing all aspects of Travalyst’s work, with full accountability for delivering Travalyst’s mission and ensuring organisational sustainability.

Key responsibilities include:

• Lead all aspects of the Travalyst initiative, focused on delivering a strategy to accelerate travel and tourism to be both sustainable and regenerative for people and the planet
• Lead, motivate, and develop a lean secretariat team, and oversee the work of external consultants and support services to achieve high performance and impact
• Manage and foster Travalyst partner and stakeholder relationships, including engaging with governments and global organisations at an executive level, and ensuring the Partnerships and Donor funding objectives are achieved through the collective efforts of the team
• Facilitate clear and effective prioritisation and decision-making to ensure activities are consistent with overall strategy and mission
• Lead the team to develop and execute B2B and B2C activities including communications/media campaigns and global convening events
• Lead the COO in the development and delivery of the product/data strategy as well as day-to-day operations including human resources, finance and budgeting, legal and compliance, and product delivery
• Ensure effective governance, risk management, and compliance across all Travalyst activities and entities
• Ensure the long-term financial sustainability and operational resilience of the organisation
• Oversee the Independent Advisory Group of sustainability, travel, and tourism experts to inform and strengthen Travalyst’s work
• Advise Travalyst’s Founder, The Duke of Sussex, on the strategic direction of the initiative, serve as proxy when appropriate

We are bold and humble, showing a willingness to embrace challenges head-on. We try new things, take risks, make educated guesses and move quickly to deliver impact. We are rigorous yet adaptable in the face of evolving challenges and opportunities. Most of all, we work closely and collaboratively showing care for each other and the planet we share, so excellent communication and collaboration skills are a must. We all work remotely, so rely heavily on video calls and other technology. We strive for excellence in everything we do, and pride ourselves by learning every day.

Our guiding values are: Courage | Kindness | Collaboration | Excellence | Growth Mindset

• Develop and lead Travalyst’s long-term strategy, ensuring robust, implementable measurement frameworks that track real-world impact
• Provide thought leadership on the future of sustainable travel, influencing global conversations and industry practices
• Serve as Travalyst’s primary ambassador, representing the initiative in high-profile public forums, media, and global industry events
• Brief the Board on progress and recommend strategies and tactics to accelerate impact

• Inspire, develop, and support our high-performing secretariat to deliver on strategy and mission
• Uphold Travalyst’s values, fostering an inclusive, supportive, and engaged workplace
• Ensure internal operations run smoothly, with effective governance, systems, and processes in place

• Build and maintain trusted relationships with partners, executive sponsors, and stakeholders across sectors
• Direct and support the partnerships and donor team to identify and secure new opportunities and funding
• Assist the team in resolving complex stakeholder requests or issue escalations, ensuring positive, collaborative outcomes

• Experience at a senior level within travel and tourism and sustainability, ideally within a global context
• Strong, inspiring leader with a proven track record in strategic management, overseeing delivery of tech enabled impact programmes, organisational oversight, and delivering impact
• Experience of leading and managing diverse c-suite and executive stakeholders and exceptional relationship management skills (experience managing pre-competitive collaborations will be a distinct advantage)
• Skilled in governance and Board engagement, with experience ensuring compliance and effective decision-making across multiple jurisdictions (NGO experience desirable but not essential).
• Bold, progressive thinker with strong analytical capabilities and desire to create a long-lasting and impactful systems change
• Experience working in policy development (such as sustainability frameworks or influencing government/industry policy) and risk assessment
• Fast learner with effective decision-making skills and experience working with strategic partnerships and multiple stakeholders
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills, with the ability to represent the organisation confidently in public, media, and high-profile forums
• Experience in fundraising and anchor partnerships (experience of major corporate, philanthropic and foundation funding partnerships a distinct advantage)
• Experience in developing and maintaining a progressive, inclusive and forward-thinking culture that fosters collaboration and creativity
• Adept at identifying, activating, and leveraging external networks to advance organisational priorities
• Demonstrable passion for sustainable travel and the mission of Travalyst
• Resilient and adaptable, with experience leading through change in fast-paced, results-driven environments
• Skilled in diagnosing challenges and implementing effective action plans

An Open to All employer, we warmly welcome everybody to the team. People of colour, LGBTQIA+ people, neurodiverse people, individuals with impairments, and parents are encouraged to apply. We encourage you to notify our team of your pronouns at any stage of your application. We also welcome applications from people who come from communities that are directly affected by the impacts of travel and tourism. We are committed to making reasonable adjustments to the recruitment process as required. Please add any adjustment requests to your application.

Saxton Bamphylde is acting as the appointed executive recruitment agent on this vacancy. Therefore, please apply via their website here. You can also download a copy of the Appointment brochure here.